Exceptionally well-preserved dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata) in Mexican amber

Zheng, D., Nel, A., Jarzembowski, E.A., Chang, S.-C., Zhang, H. & Wang, B., May 2018. Exceptionally well-preserved dragonflies (Insecta: Odonata) in Mexican amber. Alcheringa xxx, xxx–xxx.

Dragonflies (odonatans) are comparatively rare as amber inclusions, and most are not well preserved on account of their size. Here, we report a single piece of Mexican amber with one complete dragonfly and two damselflies. The dragonfly is attributed to the extant gomphid Erpetogomphus Selys Longchamps, and the damselflies belong to the extant coenagrionid Argia Rambur. Both genera are nowadays distributed widely in Mexico. The new discovery dates the origins of these two genera to the Miocene at least.

Daran Zheng [dranzheng@gmail.com], Edmund A. Jarzembowski* [jarzembowski2@live.co.uk] Haichun Zhang [hczhang@nigpas.ac.cn] and Bo Wang? [bowang@nigpas.ac.cn] State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, PR China; André Nel [anel@mnhn.fr] Institut de Systématique, Évolution, Biodiversité, ISYEB-UMR 7205-CNRS, MNHN, UPMC, EPHE, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, 57 rue Cuvier, CP 50, Entomologie, F-75005, Paris, France; Daran Zheng, Su-Chin Chang [suchin@hku.hk] Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, PR China. *Also affiliated with Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK. ?Also affiliated with Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, PR China. Received 23.1.2018; revised 6.3.2018; accepted 20.3.2018.     

The second hemiphlebiid damselfly (Odonata: Zygoptera) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber

Zheng, D. &; Wang, B., November, 2018. The second hemiphlebiid damselfly (Odonata: Zygoptera) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Alcheringa 43, 257–260. ISSN 0311-5518.

Burmahemiphlebia zhangi Zheng et al., 2017 Zheng, D., Zhang, Q., Nel, A., Jarzembowski, E.A., Zhou, Z., Chang, S.-C. &; Wang, B., 2017. New damselflies (Odonata: Zygoptera: Hemiphlebiidae, Dysagrionidae) from mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. Alcheringa 41, 12–21.[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar] is the dominant damselfly found in Burmese amber. Here, a new hemiphlebiid damselfly, Burmahemiphlebia hui sp. nov., is described representing the second Burmahemiphlebia species discovered in Burmese amber. Burmahemiphlebia hui sp. nov. differs from Burmahemiphlebia zhangi in having more postnodal cross-veins, CuP and the separating point of AA from AP basal of A?×?1, Arc aligned with A?×?2, RP2 base closer to N than to Pt, and IR1 five cells distal of RP2 base. The new damselfly is extremely rare and the only one known from Burmese amber, unlike Burmahemiphlebia zhangi.

Daran Zheng* [dranzheng@gmail.com], Bo Wang? [bowang@nigpas.ac.cn] State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology and Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 39 East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, PR China. *Also affiliated with: Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, PR China. ?Also affiliated with: Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Depositional Mineralization &; Sedimentary Minerals, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, Shandong 266590, PR China and Key Laboratory of Zoological Systematics and Evolution, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, PR China.     

Mid-Cretaceous calcarenite in stone products from the Roman colony of Emona,Regio X (modern Ljubljana,Slovenia)

Over the course of studying stone products from the Roman colony of Emona (Regio X), stratigraphically undefined calcarenite that was used to make simple sepulchral and architectural stone products was detected. The calcarenite used is late Aptian to early Cenomanian in age. The corresponding facies were found in the Lower Flyschoid Formation outcropping near the town of Medvode, within the local radius of Emona. The Roman quarry was likely located in this area near the Sava River. According to the collected data, the quarry was in operation mainly in the 1st century.     

西安新发现的两座元代墓葬壁画颜料研究

西安市雁塔区集中发现了一处元代家族墓,是陕西重要考古新发现之一。其中两座编号为M38、M40的墓葬残留壁画,壁画残损但颜色鲜艳,基本保留了颜料层结构信息。为了解这两座元墓壁画的颜料类型,通过剖面显微观察、扫描电子显微镜-能谱、拉曼光谱和显微红外光谱分析等多种方法,对壁画颜料成分开展了调查分析。结果显示:壁画颜料包含矿物颜料和有机染料——红色颜料有铅丹、朱砂、铁红,黑色颜料为炭黑,白色颜料为白垩,绿色颜料为石绿,蓝色颜料为石青和靛蓝；墓葬M38的壁画有白灰层,墓葬M40的壁画无白灰层。靛蓝的应用是西安地区继唐代韩休墓壁画中发现之后的又一使用实例,为靛蓝在元代作为绘画材料在壁画中的使用提供了新的资料。研究结果也将为两处元代墓葬壁画后续的保护修复提供重要参考。     

制备方法对土遗址重塑样稳定性的影响研究

土建筑遗址本体的保护受遗址土的物理、水理、力学及所处环境差异的影响，重塑样是替代土遗址测试其各种性质的重要手段，重塑样拌制土性质的稳定性是科学评价、对比分析试验研究的基础和前提。本研究基于不同拌制土的方法，通过观察、拍照、量取土团粒大小以及同条件制备样品的无侧限抗压强度等，综合评价不同拌制土方法的影响条件。研究发现，采用人工拌土、闷土时间在24 h的土所制的试样最具稳定性，随着闷土时间再增加，土样强度在逐渐降低。本研究为土建筑遗址室内试验研究和工程现场拌制土料提供理论参考和技术支撑。     

河南荥阳官庄遗址陶范物源及制作工艺分析

Guanzhuang site is located in the west of Guanzhuang Village, Gaocun Township, Xingyang City, Henan Province. From the site, more than 3 000 pottery moulds have been unearthed, with various types, including the moulds for containers, tools, chariots, weapons, money and core, etc. According to the types and decorations of pottery moulds and the characteristics of co - existing pottery, the pottery moulds of Guanzhuang site can be divided into two periods—Phase I dating from the late Western Zhou Dynasty to the early Spring and Autumn Period, and phase TJ considered between the early and middle Spring and Autumn Period. The change of bronze ware styles from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period was important in the development of ancient Chinese bronze wares. Due to the lack of archaeological data, research on pottery moulds during the two - week period was still insufficient; discussion of the important issue of standardizing the sources of raw materials was also relatively weak. Environmental archaeology has relatively mature methods and practices in depositional dynamics, depositional processes and provenance tracing, which could provide new ideas for further in - depth discussions on this issue. In order to understand the material sources and craftsmanship of pottery moulds unearthed from Guanzhuang site in Xingyang, Henan Province, samples of Guanzhuang pottery moulds and natural sedimentary strata were studied using particle size analysis, XRF and petrographic analysis to give the following results. 1) The raw materials for mould - making were taken from the late Pleistocene Malan loess layer under the cultural layer of the site. The Malan loess underwent simple manual elutriation before being used to make pottery moulds. 2) A small amount of plant ash and calcium nodule powder was added during the production process of pottery moulds as an admixture to increase the high - temperature resistance. 3) The inner side of pottery mould for container was mainly made of Malan loess, while the outer one was made of a mixture of Malan loess and river sand with a blending ratio of about 7:5. Pottery moulds for various ware types had different processing techniques (e.g., moulds for containers were more refined). Besides, compared with early pottery moulds, later ones are relatively rougher, but the difference is not obvious. 4) The petrographic characteristics of double - layer container moulds indicate that there are different production processes for the inner and outer sides of mould. The inner side was made of Malan loess with finer particles—below 100 μm—as the raw material after elutriation, and there were traces of directional trimming. The outer one was made of a mixture of two parts of minerals (coarse and fine), and there was no obvious processing trace. Analysis of sample particle size is a new attempt to discuss the material sources of pottery moulds. The related discussion of mud - clarifying ponds is also helpful to understand the function of such relics and the formation process of accumulation in them. This study has important reference significance for exploring the material and craft characteristics of pottery moulds before and after the early Spring and Autumn Period in the Central Plains. © 2023, Sciences of Conservation and Archaeology. All Rights Reserved.